This blog site is a place for Anna Jaworski, author of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A Handbook for Parents and My Brother Needs an Operation, and editor of The Heart of a Mother and The Heart of a Father, to keep readers updated on important news related to Baby Hearts Press and important information for the heart community. For more information about Baby Hearts Press, please visit us at http://www.babyheartspress.com.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Hematology Follow Up

5/24/07

Alex’s hematology visit went even better than I could have anticipated. He still hates having to give blood, but it goes much better when Frank is there with him, too. He’s lucky to have both of us there to help him through this difficult time and I hope that eventually he doesn’t think it’s such a big deal to have to give blood.

The doctor called with his platelet count and it was 113,000! That is so much better than the 59,000 count he had previously. Clearly, Alex must have been getting over an infection. I guess I’m just lucky that he didn’t show other outward signs of suffering from the infection.

Right now we wait and see some more. They want to monitor Alex’s platelet count for another two or three months to see if it gets closer to normal (150,000) or if it goes back down where it was before. That means no catheterization this summer. At least that question is answered. :-)

The other good news was Alex gained 1/4 of an inch in height in the last three weeks and 3 pounds! He is clearly going through a growth spurt. I knew he was just by the amount of food he’s been consuming lately.

More good news: his oxygen saturation level was 82-83. It hasn’t been that high in a long time. So good news all around. I feel much better today than I did before. I guess it’s time to thank God again for all the blessings. It’s easy to forget to do that when times are stressful.